Gabriel Jones lives only for his expensive visits with a haughty and enigmatic prostitute named Hope. His life in modern-day London is lonely and grim in the wake of Anna, his beloved girlfriend who he lost years ago because of pornography. He weaves those two stories with a third about a strange childhood friend named Katherine to create a solid rope of a story. At times Gabriel wallows in his misery a bit too long for my taste, but the writing is striking and the unusual themes -- sex workers and pornography, and men's and women's relationships with them -- are bravely and honestly explored.